Here's how steeplechase — the wackiest event in track and field — came to get its name and water jumps

The second week of the Olympics are underway in Rio, meaning
swimming and gymnastics have given way to track and field
("athletics" to most non-Americans). And while most track and
field events are fairly straightforward — run this distance
as fast as you can; throw this object as far as you can — one
event in particular stands out for its sheer weirdness.
This would be the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The casual fan of the Olympics may, understandably, wonder what's
going on with the steeplechase: what are these massive
barriers doing on the track, and why are the runners jumping over
them? Why is there a water pit? And why, really, is this
silly race called the steeplechase?

Allow us to explain.

Like many track and field events, the steeplechase's origins can
be traced back to United Kingdom. Runners, as they were
apparently wont to do, would often race each other from one
town's church steeple to the next. The steeples were chosen
because they were easy to see from long distances, leading
to the name "steeplechase."

The countryside would also require runners to jump over various
barriers over the course of their race. These included stone
walls and small rivers. When the race was modernized, the walls
were simulated with hurdles and the rivers and creeks were
simulated with the water pit.

According to the IAAF, the modern 3,000-meter
steeplechase track event — with the barriers and the water pit —
first originated at Oxford University in the mid-19th
century. It was then included in the
English Championship in 1879. In the Olympics, men have
raced the steeplechase since 1920, while the women, somewhat
shockingly, only first raced it at the Olympics in 2008 in
Beijing.

Today, the race features five barriers: four hurdles plus the
barrier before the water pit. For the men, those barriers
are 36 inches, and for the women they are 30 inches. The water
pit, meanwhile, is 12 feet long for both.

Often you'll see runners land one foot on the top of the barrier
to propel themselves over it, though many elite runners just
clear the whole thing altogether. Wipeouts are all too
common, especially in or around the water.

Here's an example of what can happen if you don't properly
traverse the water pit: